CryptoWeekly #84 - Is the ICO party over?

The best cryptocurrency news, guides and resources.

CRYPTO WEEKLY November 23, 2018 | #84 THE MARKETS BTC: $4,230.62 | -$3,957.00 (-48.35%) since last week ETH: $122.29 | -$309.43 (-71.67%) since last week IS THE ICO PARTY OVER? After a record-breaking year of more than $5.5B in funding last year, many saw a bright future for ICOs. And when looking at the raw numbers, it's tempting to think that's still the case. This year's ICO funding has already surpassed $10B, in a significant increase over last year's total, and new token projects continue to launch every day. But storm clouds are on the horizon for ICOs - securities regulators have been cracking down in recent months (four more ICOs were shut down in the US just yesterday), and regulatory pressure has forced many token projects to look elsewhere for funding. In the third quarter of this year, ICOs raised just $1.8B - a dramatic decline from Q2 of this year, which saw more than $8B in funding raised. This regulatory pressure, combined with an overall downturn in the crypto markets, has left investors reluctant to invest in ICOs with poor prospects of a healthy return. But is the ICO party really over for good, or will other funding methods take its place in the blockchain industry? It seems likely that for the time being, venture capital and private equity firms will pick up the slack where ICOs left off. As ICO funding for crypto projects has continued to decrease in recent months, VC funding for those projects has only been increasing. In fact, a recent report from Outer Ventures found that VC investments in the crypto sector rose from $900 million in 2017, to more than $2.85 billion this year. This influx of VC funding is helping blockchain projects continue to build even as ICO funding slows, which should be encouraging for crypto founders. Still, the Securities and Exchange Commission remains focused on regulating ICOs, and the regulatory body maintains that the funding mechanism won't be going away anytime soon. This week, the regulatory body created an ICO guide for investors that outlines how ICOs are presently regulated, and how to handle risk and unregistered offerings when assessing investment opportunities. After much uncertainty, the SEC has finally confirmed that ICOs are indeed securities, and this is also reflected in its latest update. The site also provides updates on the latest regulatory activity around ICOs, which should prove useful for token projects considering launching an ICO of their own. Recent events have made it clear that the ICO party isn't dead yet - it's just moved locations. While the verdict is still out on how ICO fundraising will evolve in the future, for now at least, venture capital seems set to become more prevalent than token sales for at least the next few quarters. SPONSOR LXDX: The Crypto Derivatives Exchange Get access to institutional liquidity with products you can't get anywhere else. Achieve much higher returns with only a fraction of the capital. Cody Solomon, LXDX's COO, shares:  "LXDX uses Smart Routing and our proprietary matching engine to secure the best-priced trades across all exchanges. This means that individual users can execute millions of trades per second across thousands of pairs, even during bull runs." Visit LXDX to learn more. GOOD READS How blockchain startups can learn from eBay, the original digital cross border payments company This is a great piece outlining the many parallels between the early days of eBay and Ripple. Both were systems that facilitated cross-border payments, but there were some tough lessons learned along the way that are equally applicable today. Here are 5 reasons cryptocurrency prices have been plunging recently This piece from the New York Times outlines how regulation, community infighting, and hard forks have all conspired to cause widespread chaos in the international crypto markets. The real truth about the crypto crisis While it's been a challenging year for crypto, it's still been a great one for the industries servicing it. In order to understand what's happening, it's important to understand investor psychology first and foremost. ICOs aren't liquidating their ETH treasuries just yet - here's why Despite a decrease in the markets, the total selloff in ETH hasn't been as large as many anticipated, primarily due to many startups anticipating further action by the SEC on the regulatory front, and effectively pricing in an anticipated sell-off On crypto's present and future, with Naval Ravikant and Balaji Srinivasan This is an excellent podcast interview with two gurus of the blockchain space. Naval and Balaji discuss everything from how crypto is scaling as a method of payment, to some excellent descriptions of what a blockchain actually is. Forget ICOs, continuous fundraising is the future for blockchain startups While last year was the year of the ICO, times have changed. Continuous fundraising now seems to be the future of funding for blockchain startups, as it's a funding method that helps founders overcome the downsides of traditional organizations. Here's how blockchain and smart contracts can finally have a real-world impact In a first, one startup (Chainlink) has created a blockchain protocol that can dynamically respond to world events and execute tasks using Oracles, real-time data feeds that interact with the blockchain.  It's not too late to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies - here's why Despite a steep decline in the crypto markets in recent months, there's perhaps been no better time to invest in the space. The market as a whole still has a lot of room for growth given institutional money still hasn't been priced in, and technological innovation is still on the rise. Here's a super simple guide to everything you need to know about Tezos This is a great overview of Tezos, a decentralized blockchain governance platform that is censorship-free and runs of Proof of Stake (unlike most blockchain projects, which leverage mining and proof of work). Learn how to fund your crypto project the right way There are a number of creative ways to fund one's crypto project, but not all of them are advisable. This piece breaks down the pros and cons of each, and proposes community funds as one attractive (and low-risk) way to raise funding quickly. COMMUNITY NEWS Black Friday special: Access 50% off CryptoList using promo code FRIDAY. Link Binance is investing $3M in setting up a US-based crypto trading desk. Link Telegram's $1.7B ICO is reportedly 70% complete. Link Singapore stock exchange clarifies rules for listed firms issuing ICOs. Link BlockMarkets has just launched an institutional crypto data feed. Link Norway is scrapping its crypto mining subsidy program for good. Link Contrary to popular belief, blockchain VC investment actually increased this year. Link Coinbase has been faced with a new BCH insider trading lawsuit. Link One founder just committed crypto-treason and embezzled priceless pearls. Link Ripple is rumored to be working on an official partnership for cross-border payments with Bank of America. Link Coinbase's Chief Policy Officer is leaving the company to head to Andreessen Horowitz. Link Binance has just announced two new partners to help it meet AML/KYC regulations. Link Coinbase is hiring a Recruiter in San Francisco. Link Join the Crypto Pro Expo from January 29-30, 2019 in San Francisco. Link Edited by Chris Osborne, founder of KintuLabs, in Bangkok (in town? reach out to get a coffee). Feel free to reply to this email with any feedback and/or suggestions. -- Nothing shared or published by CryptoWeekly constitutes an investment recommendation, nor should any data or content published by CryptoWeekly be relied upon for any investment activities. CryptoWeekly strongly recommends that you perform your own independent research and/or speak with a qualified investment professional before making any financial decisions. Copyright © 2018 CryptoWeekly. All rights reserved. No longer want to receive CryptoWeekly? Unsubscribe.

	CoinSheet #226 If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself. — American Indian Proverb Happy Turkey Day! The fact that you're reading this probably means that you live in a nation that is extremely prosperous and wealthy when compared to most nations in the world. Happy Turkey Day CoinSheet #226 Nov 22 Public post If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself. — American Indian Proverb Happy Turkey Day! The fact that you're reading this probably means that you live in a nation that is extremely prosperous and wealthy when compared to most nations in the world. Our economy is competitively based, our civil liberties heavily concerned with the rights of the individual, and success can often be achieved through excellence and merit (as opposed to fist and fire). I think Thanksgiving is an opportunity to recognize how fortunate we are to have what we have. And if you're a cynic and you think Thanksgiving has lost its meaning, that's ok, no judgement. But also understand that Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays overworked Americans get to stay home for. So if you start being a shithead, they might just get upset with you. And if that's not enough for you, just stick around until after Black Friday. The WorldStar videos where folks are getting elbowed in the face should all be worth it. Is Bitcoin Dead? Yes, just like it died in 2011. January 2011 - January 2012 And in 2012. September 2012 - September 2013 And in 2014. September 2013 - September 2015 And now in 2017. January 2017 - November 2018 It is somewhat funny though how every time bitcoin died, the scale on the Y-axis we use to measure it with goes up by a magnitude or two. The Bitcoin Thanksgiving Dinner Pitch The 1 liner Bitcoin is a currency that is borderless, neutral, censorship resistant, open to all participants and is a trusted network despite having a lack of central governance. The 1 minute For the minute pitch, I'm going to use Murad's pitch from his interview with Pomp (edited for clarity since this was a transcription from a podcast). Source Bitcoin is the soundest, hardest currency that has ever been invented in the history of human civilization. Its disinflation is second to none. Its monetary policies are known years in advance and it's becoming increasingly credible. It will also be a growing threat to the very currencies banks and nations control. I think getting in before most other central banks and most other sovereign wealth funds and most other rich people will, in the next decade, prove to be one of the smartest investment decisions in the course of human history. ***You then proceed to whip out the chart below and point to "We are here."*** Source The anything longer than 1 minute pitch The chutzpah on you to think they actually want to hear it. I'm surprised they keep inviting you to Thanksgiving dinner. If you really think they care, wait for Hanukkah or Christmas and get them a copy of The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous. Anyways… That is all for now. We'll speak with you soon. You're on the free list for CoinSheet. For the full experience, become a paying subscriber. Subscribe © 2018 CoinSheet LLC Unsubscribe 427 N Tatnall St #84981 Wilmington, DE 19801 A Substack newsletter

Coinbase complaint continues

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November 22, 2018 INSIDER TRADING? A new amended class action complaint has been filed against Coinbase by investors who allege the exchange allowed insiders to unfairly profit from its rollout of bitcoin cash last December.  The document, filed Tuesday in federal court, is a more detailed version of a case that was dismissed last month, and explains how the exchange failed investors when first listing the bitcoin fork to its platform, according to the allegations. Coinbase now has a month to respond, and a hearing on the matter is set for the end of next January. Full Story MISSED THE POINT? While it is to be applauded that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been gone to significant lengths in an attempt to understand the crypto asset space, it's failed to come to terms with a fundamental aspect of crypto assets and systems, says Edan Yago, the founder of CementDAO. The issue is that properly constructed crypto systems do not involve "persons" or "entities" and do not represent a form of property. For this reason, they do not have any analogue in the traditional financial world, nor can they fall under financial regulation. The SEC is trying to regulate smart contracts too. But who “provided” the smart contract? Who performed its functions? The SEC, for obvious reasons, would like to establish jurisdiction over crypto assets. However, this jurisdiction is only appropriate where there are legally enforceable contracts between legal entities and not to recognize this important distinction is a recipe for overreach and confusion, Yago says. Full story ON TRACK: The Swiss Federal Railways has officially conducted a proof-of-concept trial for a blockchain-based credentials management system. Developed by Linum Labs, the project ran from May to November and sought to see if a blockchain platform could improve on current manual, paper-based processes for site safety on construction projects, a railway spokesperson told CoinDesk.  The railway system has "strict requirements" regarding personnel identity and qualifications due to safety concerns, the spokesperson explained. As a result, there is a need for a robust identification system.  Through the trial, built using the uPort open source platform, railway workers, supervisors and other authorized persons received their own digital identities linked to an ID app and used it to sign in and out at work by scanning a QR code. Their ID data, as well as information about certificates and training, was stored and accessed over the blockchain platform. Full Story CoinDesk’s Crypto-Economics Explorer aggregates data points across the industry to measure the size and opportunity of crypto markets. In addition to price and market cap, our new tool provides users with a comprehensive way to view the crypto-economic forces that shape an asset’s market maturity, growth, and potential. On the chart above, you can see how various cryptocurrencies measure on the graph. XRP shows better "exchange" and "social" scores than it does for "network" and "developer." XMR and ZEC show over-performing "developer" scores. ETH has the most robust profile across all five categories, second only to bitcoin. Use our new tool to learn more.   Jay Clayton Chairman of the SEC Kelly Loeffler CEO of Bakkt Dr. Mohamed A. El-Erian Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz Jeffrey Sprecher Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange & Chairman and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.   Register Now HERE'S HOPING: Bitcoin charted a bullish “inside-day" candlestick pattern yesterday, signaling indecision in the marketplace. As a result, a short-term bullish reversal is likely if the oversold cryptocurrency moves above yesterday's high of $6,435 in the next 48 hours or so. Full story   BEST OF THE BEST CNBC: It’s Thanksgiving again, and isn't it different this time round? A CNBC feature revisits the bitcoin mania seen last year – a far cry from the current bear market. From Thanksgiving 2017, the price of bitcoin almost doubled from below $10,000 to nearly $20,000 in December. Kyle Asman, partner of crypto advisory firm BX3 Capital, remembered going to a restroom at a holiday party when bitcoin was $9,000. Minutes later when he returned to the table, it was $11,000.  Much of the investor excitement was driven by the mentality of FOMO – or fear of missing out. As Steve Ehrlich, COO of Wall Street Blockchain Alliance said: “At some point when the price went up by so much, so quickly, people had no choice but to peek under the hood and see what was going on.” THE REST   REUTERS: Bitcoin’s use in commercial payments has slumped this year, says Reuters, basing the piece on a research report from Chainalysis. The value of bitcoin passing through crypto payment processors shrank by almost 80 percent from September 2017 to the same month in 2018, the research suggests.  Despite calming in recent months, the cryptocurrency’s notable volatility last year was cited as one reason bitcoin payments didn’t maintain earlier momentum. “There would have to be a stability requirement if it is to become another form of money,” said Joni Teves, a strategist at UBS in London told Reuters. But one thing that would take bitcoin into mainstream adoption is scalability, Teves added, saying: “Is it able to process the value or volume of transactions that money tends to do?” FINANCE MAGNATES: Saudi Arabia is launching its own cryptocurrency next year, reports Finance Magnates, citing local news sources. However, rather than replacing the national currency, it looks like the token will be used by banks as a payments tool, though details are still sparse. One thing that is clear is that the cryptocurrency is being built in conjunction with the neighboring United Arab Emirates, and the governor of the central bank of the UAE reportedly said earlier this week that it’s already in the design phase. There's no set delivery date yet, and the crypto's launch timeline will depend on how soon all the R&D work can be completed.  WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER Consensus: Invest Keynotes Jay Clayton Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission Dr. Mohamed A. El-Erian Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz Register Now Copyright © 2018 CoinDesk. All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 250 Park Avenue South New York, NY, 10003, US Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

This Week in Technology Review - Week of November 19

This Week in Technology Review Everything you need to know about the technology topics you care most about, delivered to your inbox each week. Everything you need to know about the technology topics you care most about, delivered to your inbox each week. Week of November 19 View in the browser View in the browser Business Impact How UPS uses AI to outsmart bad weather The delivery giant's new machine-learning app aims to reroute packages away from snow and other trouble spots in its global network. An electric plane with no moving parts has made its first flight The turbineless design uses electroaerodynamic propulsion to fly and could herald the arrival of quieter, lower-emission aircraft. Blockchain smart contracts are finally good for something in the real world A startup says it has tackled a long-standing problem that has kept smart contracts from responding to actual events. Here's what a manufacturing skills gap of more than 2 million people will look like Unless manufacturers start exploring new strategies, they won't be able to find enough people qualified to work in their specialized factories. Popular this week AI can't just play video games all day if it's ever going to grow up What is machine learning? We drew you another flowchart It pretty much runs the world. One of the fathers of AI is worried about its future Yoshua Bengio wants to stop talk of an AI arms race and make the technology more accessible to the developing world. Is this AI? We drew you a flowchart to work it out The definition of artificial intelligence is constantly evolving, and the term often gets mangled, so we are here to help. Machine learning, meet quantum computing A quantum version of the building block behind neural networks could be exponentially more powerful. The rare form of machine learning that can spot hackers who have already broken in Darktrace's unsupervised-learning models sound the alarm before intruders can cause serious damage. You received this newsletter because you subscribed with the email address: contacto1745.send-mail@blogger.com edit preferences      unsubscribe MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142